a trio of perpetrators who treat the united states treasury as if it were a cash-and-carry annex of corporate america. the "times" story described how amgen got a huge hidden gift from unnamed members of congress and their staffers. they slipped an eleventh hour loophole into the new year's eve deal that kept the government from going over the fiscal cliff. and when the sun rose in the morning, there it was, a richly embroidered loophole for amgen that will cost taxpayers -- that's you and me -- a cool half a billion dollars. yes, half a billion dollars. amgen is the world's largest biotechnology firm, a drug manufacturer that sells a variety of medications. the little clause secretly sneaked into the fiscal cliff bill gives the company two more years of relief from medicare cost controls for certain drugs used by patients on kidney dialysis. the provision didn't mention amgen by name, but according to reporters lipton and sack, the news that it had been tucked into the fiscal cliff deal "was so welcome that the company's chief executive quickly relayed it to investment analysts." tipping the